Horse Feathers

by Bonnie Bryant

  Gripping the surcingle handles, Veronica confidently swung her legs forward and then back, using the momentum to push herself up into a handstand, keeping her legs straight and firmly together, her toes pointed up. She held the position for two canter strides, then lowered herself gently to Clara’s back in a side-seat position.

  “Life can’t be this unfair,” grumbled Stevie. “Tell me I’m just having a bad dream.”

  “If you are, I’m having the same one,” Lisa said, frowning.

  “Maybe that’s the only thing she’s learned,” said Carole, trying her best to sound positive.

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The girls watched as Veronica completed the second half of the Flank, in which she once again swung her legs back and up, pushing herself up into a handstand. This time, instead of lowering herself into a side-seat on Clara’s back, she used her arms to push herself away from the handles and vaulted backward, landing neatly on the ground behind Clara just to the outside of the longeing circle.

  “Excellent, Veronica,” Max said as Veronica jogged over to join the other vaulters.

  “How could she possibly have learned that in a week?” asked Lisa.

  “Let’s see. Private coach. Two-hour lessons every day. Hmmm …” answered Stevie, now feeling that her accomplishment of performing the Flag at the canter was no longer much of an accomplishment at all. Especially since Veronica’s performance had seemed as effortless as if Clara had been standing still.

  “She’s going to cream us at the competition,” said Carole, echoing what Lisa and Stevie were already thinking.

  “We’re not giving up yet,” Stevie said firmly. “There’s still time.”

  With renewed determination, the girls took another turn on Clara. But after Veronica’s stunning performance, it was difficult if not impossible to stay positive about the progress they’d made since Clara’s arrival. Lisa and Carole did well, but not as well as Veronica.

  “So much for that,” grumbled Stevie. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to beat her in the competition.”

  Lisa was just as bummed out. She released a long sigh, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. “This stinks.”

  “Guys, we can’t let her get to us,” said Carole. “Look, I know what will help.”

  “A private coach?” suggested Stevie.

  “No,” Carole responded. “A trail ride.”

  “I don’t know …” Stevie was thinking that the longer she was away from her goslings, the bigger the mess she’d have to clean up. And then there was all that laundry she had to do.

  “Come on, Stevie,” Carole encouraged her. “We won’t go for too long. And besides, if you don’t ride Belle soon, she’s going to forget what you look like.”

  Carole had a point. She’d been so busy with the goslings that she hadn’t had much time for Belle. “I guess a short ride wouldn’t hurt,” Stevie said, grinning.

  “And while we’re out,” added Lisa, “maybe we’ll come up with a way to beat Veronica.”

  The girls nodded in agreement and quickly went to get their horses.

  A short while later, Stevie, Lisa, and Carole were galloping their horses across a large open field. They slowed to a walk as they approached a small water hole Max had dug in the middle of the field.

  Lisa stroked Prancer’s sweaty neck. She was still pumped from the excitement of the run. “That was great!” she exclaimed. “Way to go, girl.” Prancer tossed her head and nickered, apparently understanding the praising tone of Lisa’s voice.

  Carole hopped off Starlight, leading him to the edge of the water hole for a drink. “Too bad we’re not as good at vaulting as we are at galloping,” she joked.

  But Stevie wasn’t really paying attention. Instead she was watching a large crow as it circled the pond. After a moment it swooped down, landed gracefully at the edge of the water, and took a drink. Then it was off again, soaring across the sky.

  “That’s it!” declared Stevie, startling Lisa and Carole.

  “What’s it?” asked Carole.

  “I don’t have to sell my goslings. Or even give them away, for that matter. They can live at Pine Hollow, right here in this field. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before!” Stevie exclaimed. “They’ll love it!”

  Lisa and Carole weren’t quite so sure. “What if they don’t?” asked Carole. “I mean, right now they’re enjoying the comforts of your bedroom.”

  “Not to mention your swimming pool,” added Lisa.

  Stevie stared at them for a moment as if they’d each grown two heads. “What’s not to love? It’s water and they’re geese, right? Plus there’s all the grass and weeds they can eat. Sure, they’re not old enough yet to be on their own, but they will be soon. Until then, I’ll just bring them over for visits so that they can get used to their new home.”

  “Sorry, Stevie,” said Lisa, “but this sounds like another one of your harebrained ideas.” Carole was wearing a look of agreement.

  “Not at all,” Stevie assured them. “I’ll bring the babies over for class on Tuesday. You’ll see. They’ll love it here.”

  “Yes, but will Max love it?” Lisa asked doubtfully. “You know how he gets about your ideas.”

  “But this time it’s a good idea,” stressed Stevie. Although, truthfully, she thought all her ideas were good ideas. It was just that some of them weren’t as well executed or as appreciated as others.

  Stevie turned Belle around and urged the mare into a trot. “Come on, I’ve got to go talk to Max and Mrs. Reg!” Mrs. Reg, Max’s mother, was the stable manager.

  Lisa and Carole quickly mounted and followed Stevie back down to the barn.

  Stevie found Max and Mrs. Reg in the stable office. She explained about the eggs (now goslings) and her dilemma about where to keep them once they got too big to be in the house.

  “Well, there’s certainly plenty of room here for them,” Mrs. Reg said thoughtfully.

  Stevie immediately launched into the goslings’ finer attributes. “They’re really very nice. We’ve been working on their ground manners and their swimming. And they don’t eat much,” she rushed on. “Or not too much, anyway. Plus, as an added bonus, they’re great for weed control.”

  Max held up his hands, laughing. “You don’t have to convince me, Stevie. I’m fine with the idea. As long as you can convince Numbers One through Eight to stay at Pine Hollow, they’re welcome to make this their new home.”

  Stevie practically ran out the door, forgetting in her excitement to thank Mrs. Reg and Max. She did a quick U-turn and popped her head back in the office door. “Thank you!” she said before darting back down the hall.

  CLASS ON TUESDAY was a little strange. Eight quacking goslings were swimming around the horses’ water trough while the girls had their regular lesson in the outdoor ring.

  Stevie had tried taking the goslings to the water hole. That had started out fine. The goslings had quacked excitedly at the sight of water and immediately dived in, swimming in little circles as they checked out the pond. However, the moment Stevie tried to sneak back to the stable, Number One honked at his siblings and soon had them in an orderly line, following Stevie.

  “No, no, no, guys,” said Stevie, gently turning them back around to the pond. “You stay here and I’ll be back after my lesson.”

  The flock of goslings sat at Stevie’s feet, gazing up at her expectantly. She dipped her fingers in the pond and played with the water. “See? Water. Bath time for goslings.”

  The goslings quacked and jumped back into the pond, but as soon as Stevie took a few steps backward, out they came, right on Stevie’s toes. Stevie gave a frustrated sigh. She could see that it wasn’t going to work. And if she didn’t get back to the barn, she was going to be late for her lesson.

  “All right,” she said, giving in. “Let’s go.”

  The eight little goslings marched behind Stevie to the barn, quacking excitedly at their new surroundings.

  Number Eight began to dawdle as u
sual, so Stevie scooped him up and carried him in her hands. He quacked happily as if that had been his plan all along.

  “Freeloader,” Stevie scolded gently, not really minding at all.

  Back at the barn, Stevie quickly helped the goslings into the trough, then ran to fetch Belle. She groomed and tacked her up outside, where she could keep an eye on the goslings. And as long as Stevie was within their sight, they seemed content to remain in the water trough.

  Stevie did fine in her lesson, even when distracted by the goslings. Max had the class work on basic balancing exercises that would help them with their vaulting skills. Lisa, especially, threw herself into the exercises, hoping it would increase her chance at beating Veronica in the upcoming vaulting competition. And Carole, on her own horse and in her own saddle, did much better with the exercises and didn’t even mind when Max had them repeat the exercises over and over.

  After the lesson the goslings followed Stevie and Belle into the barn. Stevie was careful to make sure that they walked well out of reach of Belle’s hooves. The impatient octet stood outside the stall door (at Stevie’s insistence) and waited expectantly while Stevie untacked and groomed Belle.

  With a quick good-bye to Lisa and Carole, Stevie made her way outside, goslings in tow, to her mom’s waiting car. Since she had thought it’d be too far a walk for the young goslings, she’d asked her mother to drive them over and pick them up.

  “How’d it go?” Mrs. Lake asked hopefully as Stevie opened up the rear door of the car and loaded the goslings, one at a time, into a large cardboard box.

  “Well, they liked the pond,” said Stevie. For the short time they stayed in it, she added to herself.

  “That’s good news, dear.” Mrs. Lake smiled at her. “Your father will be relieved to hear it.”

  Stevie crawled into the backseat beside the goslings and smiled at her mom through the rearview mirror. They liked the water, thought Stevie. Now all she had to do was get them to like it when she wasn’t around. As Mrs. Lake shifted the car into gear, Stevie protectively dropped her hand inside the box, absentmindedly stroking the little birds’ soft feathers.

  DETERMINED TO MAKE the goslings adjust to Pine Hollow, Stevie enlisted her mother’s help to take them over daily for a quick swim in the pond. Mrs. Lake was more than happy to oblige, especially since Stevie’s little charges were growing at an alarming rate and were beginning to get more than slightly underfoot around the house. Stevie had narrowly rescued Number Six from getting flattened when Mrs. Lake went to take a seat on the sofa after dinner, not realizing that Number Six had taken a liking to her favorite spot. And the day before, Number Four had left a calling card in Michael’s sneaker, which of course sent Michael into near hysterics when he realized that the warm, gushy feeling he was experiencing as he made his way out the front door was not related to the fact that he was wearing brand new gel-padded air treads.

  With each visit to the pond, Stevie attempted moving farther and farther away from the goslings while they played contentedly in the water. It was a strategy that had some success, as she was now able to disappear for very short periods of time before the goslings hopped out of the water to come looking for her.

  The following Tuesday, Stevie appeared at the barn with her goslings for her regular lesson. Max had scheduled an intermediate lesson for the more advanced students to give the younger students a chance to try some vaulting on Clara.

  As had become their daily ritual, Stevie helped the goslings into the water trough. “You guys stay here while I go get Belle.”

  Stevie needn’t have worried. The goslings had become accustomed to the trough and didn’t even seem to notice when Stevie ran to get Belle. She quickly tacked up and joined the lesson, which was just beginning in the grass paddock. In the ring next to them, Red was longeing Clara and working on very basic moves, such as riding bareback while holding on to the vaulting handles, with a few of the younger riders.

  Stevie took a last quick peek at her goslings, still paddling around the water trough, then got down to work, following Max’s instructions as they began the class. They were performing serpentines at the trot and canter without stirrups—an exercise aimed at increasing their balance and suppleness in their lower backs, which would help improve their vaulting abilities.

  Midway through the class, Stevie glanced over at the water trough and noticed that the goslings had become distracted and stopped paddling. The focus of their attention seemed to be on Clara and the young vaulters. Despite Number One’s best efforts to keep the group organized, Number Three, ignoring the quacks of Number One, climbed out of the trough and waddled over to the outdoor ring. Number Three perched himself just under the fence for a better view of the entertainment. Much to Stevie’s surprise, the other goslings followed.

  That’s got to be a good sign, Stevie thought hopefully. It was the first time she could think of that the goslings had made an attempt to go anywhere on their own that wasn’t just to find her. But before the group could enjoy their freedom, Number One rounded them up and herded them back to the trough, honking angrily at Number Three the entire way. Still, thought Stevie, it was a clear and welcome sign that the goslings were developing some independence.

  ON SATURDAY THE girls took part in another vaulting lesson. It was their last scheduled session before the competition, which was to take place the following weekend. Once again, Stevie walked the goslings down to the pond for their daily swim. When she was sure that they were too caught up in their playtime to notice her disappearance, she slipped away and joined the class in the outdoor ring.

  “So I wonder where Veronica is,” Lisa commented, glancing around as they waited for Max to begin the class.

  “I haven’t seen her all week,” answered Carole.

  “Unfortunately, that probably means she’s been busy practicing with her private coach,” guessed Stevie.

  “Let’s get started,” Max called out, waving his hand for the riders to come forward. “Since this is your last lesson before the competition, I want to see everyone giving it their all.”

  One by one, the girls took their turn on Clara.

  Stevie tried really hard, but the best she could manage was to maintain the Stand on Clara for a couple of canter circles without falling off. She considered it a success of sorts, especially since she hadn’t had much time to practice. But it certainly wouldn’t be enough to compete against Veronica.

  Carole managed to maintain both the Flag and the Mill at the canter, and Lisa was able to do even more than that. She’d finally gotten the feel for the Flank and most of the time was able to execute the first part of it without incident. Unfortunately, Stevie guessed that Veronica had already moved on to more difficult moves that she would use for the competition.

  The class was just finishing when Stevie heard the indignant honking of Number One, who, finally noticing Stevie’s disappearance, had come out of the pond to look for her. The good news was that it had taken the goslings a lot longer to notice, and instead of panicking, they were now familiar enough with Pine Hollow that they had a pretty good idea of where to find their surrogate mother.

  “Hi, guys,” Stevie greeted them warmly.

  Number One circled behind the group, honking at Number Eight to keep up. One by one, Stevie helped them into the water trough. It was more out of tradition than necessity, since the goslings were now quite able to get into the trough on their own. But oddly enough, instead of paddling around in the water, they all lined up against the edge of the trough to stare at Clara, clearly spellbound by the vaulting horse in the nearby outdoor ring. Red was loosening Clara’s surcingle as they finished the lesson.

  “I think your goslings have a crush on Clara,” observed Carole.

  “Either that,” laughed Lisa, “or they’ve never seen anything so huge in their lives.”

  Red walked Clara out of the ring and brought her over to the trough. Much to Stevie’s surprise, the goslings sat quietly while Clara poked her muzzle into th
e water for a drink. Enraptured, they circled the mare’s large face, their beaks tenderly brushing up against Clara’s hairy cheek. Clara was unfazed. But then, as the girls had discovered over the past month, Clara was unfazed by almost everything. She simply finished her drink and lifted her head out of the trough, water dripping from her chin. The goslings quacked happily, delighted with the mini-shower that Clara was unintentionally providing.

  “Look at that!” exclaimed Stevie. “I think they’ve found a new friend.”

  “Maybe with Clara here, they’ll want to be here, too,” said Lisa.

  “It’s just too bad that Clara’s going home so soon,” Carole reminded them.

  Stevie realized that Carole was right. The vaulting competition was coming up next Saturday. Right after that, the riders would be saying good-bye to Clara.

  It also reminded Stevie that she was running out of time to get her goslings accustomed to Pine Hollow. Her father had hinted again at breakfast that morning that the goslings would soon be too big to be kept indoors. Stevie watched thoughtfully as Red walked Clara toward the barn. The goslings swam to the edge of the trough and honked until Clara’s large rump disappeared from sight. Then they returned to Stevie, paddling and honking as they tried to get her attention. Stevie stuck her hand into the trough, splashing them playfully with water. She had to figure out a way to make the goslings realize that they belonged at Pine Hollow—before her dad made some other decision for her.

  “THIS IS SO exciting. My”—Lisa quickly corrected herself—“our first vaulting competition.”

  It was Saturday morning, the day of the competition, and Carole and Lisa were getting a ride to Pine Hollow with Stevie and her goslings, which were seated patiently in two large cardboard boxes beside Stevie. The goslings had grown so quickly that they no longer fit into one box.

  “Did you remember your tights?” Mrs. Lake asked Stevie, glancing in the rearview mirror as she turned up the drive to Pine Hollow.